Television portrayals of life and work are often exaggerated, and this is the same case with The Bear. A real-life Michelin-star chef completely debunks the scenarios that were happening on this particular opening night and even checks the accuracy of terms.
It’s also worth noting that there were points in the episode that the restauranteur agreed on, so it was still a good representation of the life inside a fine dining kitchen.
Michelin-Star Chef Comments On The Accuracy Of The Bear Opening Night Scene
In an interview with Insider, master chef and restaurateur Paul Liebrandt reviewed and rated scenes from movies and television that depict the realities of restaurant fine dining. In Jeremy Allen White’s The Bear, Liebrandt acknowledged the chaotic environment within the kitchen.
Opening nights are tough. It’s like going on a first date. You’re not meeting ‘you,’ you’re meeting the representative of ‘you.’ I think they captured it pretty well. The stress level, the energy, the sensibility, I suppose you could say, of the kitchen.
However, he noticed one scene where there were several expletives which he did not find impressive. Working in a kitchen is truly nerve-wracking, but putting everyone in tense mode should be the last thing a chef would do.
The gentleman who was calling the tickets says f—k a lot. Maybe more than you should on an opening night. Opening nights, you want to calm everybody down a bit, and focus, because everyone’s a bit nervous.
No truer words have been spoken, and since opening nights are usually the busiest, the staff would be panicking like crazy. On the flip side, Liebrandt took notice of the timer which proved to be an important item inside the kitchen. “Timing in the kitchen is the one thing that we cannot get back,” he says, adding how critical time is.
Overall, he says he’s “pretty impressed” with how the show captured the energy of people working on opening night. “I would rate this a seven out of 10,” he concluded, which isn’t a bad grade after all.
Jeremy Allen White On Portraying The Role Of A Chef
Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmen Berzatto in The Bear, admits he never knew anything about work inside the kitchen until he joined the series. He tells Entertainment Weekly:
I was completely clueless in the kitchen before this show, and then I progressively got to kind of mediocre. I went to two weeks of cooking school.
He credits chef Dave Beran from the Michelin star-rated Pasjoli in Santa Monica, California for his exposure and training. “He let me spend a lot of time there. He let me cook on the line during busy nights. It was pretty incredible that they really let me in,” says White.
The actor’s experience working in a real restaurant was exceptionally translated into the show, giving it an authentic look and feel that even professional chefs will approve of.
The Bear is available to stream on Hulu.
